Tiny tuna crabs wash up in masses on Orange County beaches

In this photo provided by Lyn Michelle Evins, Donna Kalez, manager of Dana Wharf Sportfishing, poses for a photo with thousands of tiny tuna crabs that washed ashore near her place of business at Strand Beach in Dana Point, Calif., Sunday, June 14, 2015. The crabs have been washing up by the thousands on some Orange County beaches. (Lyn Michelle Evins via AP)
(The Associated Press)

DANA POINT, Calif. – Tiny tuna crabs have been washing up by the thousands on some Orange County beaches.

The Orange County Register reports (http://bit.ly/1BcoMTB ) that the crustaceans, which look like tiny lobsters or crawfish, created a bright red rim along the shoreline of Dana Point, San Clemente, Newport Beach and Huntington Beach on Sunday.

Experts say the 1- to 3-inch long crabs, which normally live off Mexico's Baja Peninsula, are going farther north because of the warm water that has lingered off Southern California for the past year.

In recent weeks, blue, jellyfish-like creatures known as "by-the-wind sailors" have been spotted, and tropical fish such as yellowtail and Bluefin tuna are showing up earlier than normal this year.